Austin 7 Special

Restoration/Building of an Austin 7 Special

This weekend I did more staring at the body. Joss came round for a look and after talking to him we decided to tweak the kick in front of the rear wheels a little. I had left too much room and height around the spring so I adjusted it and made the hole smaller. This morning I was able to roll the car outside again for a look. I also slightly adjusted some of the line around the cockpit.

Smaller kick in the bottom line.

Nice bum.

I want to see how it will look with guards on it next. The passenger sits very close to the rear wheel. A guard is needed so they don’t get their arm caught! If you think there have been a lot of photos of the same thing then yes, but with small differences between them. That’s how this stage of the car goes. You look at it a lot, tweak things and wait till it looks and feels right.

I also pinned, cleaned up and painted the springs. Just a light coat of black since the things will be covered in grease anyway (and probably wrapped in Denso tape). I found some long eye bolts with a shaft just the right size for the pin in the springs. I cut appropriate lengths and peened the ends over into the counter sinks in the spring. I also discovered the original makers mark and date, made in Manchester – 1936!

Springs.

I need to get new bushes for the front spring. The rears are fine but they do need a little filing as they hit the new grease nipples I added to the springs.

Today I also started cleaning up the brake cross shaft pieces.

Brake cross shaft.

Will need a very good diagram to remember how that lot goes back together!

Next I start bending tubes again for the cockpit edge. I will also look at getting some sheet steel for the rear firewall and transmission tunnel. I also won a rear light and a 6 volt regulator box that might be some use later on.